French Court Dismisses Rape Case Against Interior Minister Darmanin - Reports

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2023) The Paris Court of Appeal dismissed on Tuesday the rape case against French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin due to the absence of evidence a crime was committed, Le Parisien daily reported.

The case was opened in 2017 after Sophie Patterson-Spatz filed a lawsuit against Darmanin, accusing him of rape and abuse of trust back in 2009.

According to Patterson-Spatz, she sought legal assistance from Darmanin, who at that time was a member of the Union for a Popular Movement party (the predecessor of France's The Republicans party), and he demanded a "return service" from her.

In July 2017, Darmanin filed a retaliatory defamation lawsuit.

In 2018, a court in Paris dismissed the case against Darmanin based on lack of corpus delicti or evidence of a crime but in 2019, a court of cassation ordered that the legality of the case termination be reviewed.

In 2020, the Paris Court of Appeal decided to resume the trial of Darmanin.

Darmanin served as Minister of Public Action and Accounts in the government of President Emmanuel Macron from May 17, 2017 to July 6, 2020. He was later appointed the country's interior minister.